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Boxing: Juan Manuel Marquez gains revenge on Manny Pacquiao

Associated Press

Posted:
12/08/2012 10:32:54 PM PST

Updated:
12/09/2012 06:43:39 AM PST

No need for Juan Manuel Marquez to impress the judges. No need for the referee to count to 10. Marquez took care of all of his business Saturday with a thunderous right hand that left Manny Pacquiao face first on the canvas.

Unable to win a decision in their first three fights, Marquez won the old-fashioned way with a huge right hand that put Pacquiao down for the second time in the fight at 2:59 of the sixth round in Las Vegas.

Referee Kenny Bayless never bothered to count as Marquez leapt into his handlers' arms in celebration and Pacquiao's wife broke into tears at ringside.

It was a stunning end to the fourth fight in the last eight years between the two. It could also be the end of the Filipino's career, though he said in the ring afterward he'd like to fight Marquez for a fifth time.

"If you give us a chance, we'll fight again," Pacquiao said. "I was just starting to feel confident and then I got careless."

Pacquiao was ahead 47-46 on all three scorecards after the fifth round.

He had been down in the third round but knocked Marquez down in the fifth, and the two were exchanging heavy blows in the sixth before Marquez threw a right hand that flattened Pacquiao.

"I thought I was getting him in the last couple of rounds, but I got hit by a strong punch. I never expected that punch," Pacquiao said before being taken to a hospital for a precautionary exam.

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It was the second loss in a row for Pacquiao, who dropped a decision to Timothy Bradley in June.

Marquez improved to 55-6-1; Pacquiao fell to 54-5-2.

"We always worked on that punch," Marquez said. "We knew he was going to come out aggressive so we had a fight plan that was more technical. We were able to capitalize on it."

Mikkel Kessler stopped Brian Magee in the third round to claim the WBA super-middleweight title in Herning, Denmark. Kessler returned to the ring last year after overcoming an eye injury that forced the Dane to withdraw from the Super Six tournament in 2010. That injury stemmed from a bout in 2009 against Oakland's Andre Ward.